Investing.com - Cryptocurrency prices were mostly flat on Thursday, as Bitcoin celebrated its 10th anniversary.
Bitcoin inched down 0.12% to $3,834.10 on the Investing.com Index, as of 8:35 AM ET (13:35 GMT).
The digital coin was launched 10 years ago, but remains far from the everyday currency its creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, envisioned. Bitcoin has had a volatile year, down nearly 70% in 2018 and far from its peak of $20,000 in December 2017. Other coins have also fallen dramatically amid concerns of increased regulatory scrutiny and volatility.
Cryptocurrencies overall were flat, with the total coin market capitalization at $132 billion at the time of writing, compared to $131 billion on Wednesday.
Ethereum, or Ether, decreased 2% to $149.12 and Litecoin was at $31.725, down 2.3%, while XRP slipped 1.7% to $0.36142.
Meanwhile, the Thai government has developed a digital election system based on blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrencies.
Thailand’s National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC) has already developed the system and is now looking for trial partners to test the technology before large-scale implementation.
“Nectec developed blockchain technology for e-voting that can be applied to national, provincial or community elections, as well as business votes such as the board of directors. The goal is to reduce fraud and maintain data integrity,” Chalee Vorakulpipat told the Bangkok Post.
In other news, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a digital currency study bill last week, making it the first state in the U.S. to form such a team.
The task force will study how to “properly regulate, define and use cryptocurrency,” and is expected to submit reports by Dec. 15, 2020.